Bachmann Erases Canadian History to Suit Needs

What's a little $40 billion in stimulus spending between friends, anyway?

Michele Bachmann, a U.S. congresswoman from Minnesota vying to be the Republicans' presidential candidate next year, fudged a bit of very recent Canadian history yesterday when she tweeted that Canada never had a stimulus program. “Lesson in economic recovery: Consider Canada. No stimulus plus unemployment is 20 per cent lower than U.S.,” tweeted Bachmann, a favourite of the tea party and leftist bloggers, but for very different reasons. She's right about the unemployment, but not so much on the stimulus, considering that the Harper government doled out $40 billion over two years on a variety of infrastructure projects that, well, helped reverse the country's rising unemployment. Close, but no cigar, congresswoman.